Vengence's Odyssey

Chapter two

Maybe it was the cold air blasting from the air conditioner in the car or the coldness from his very soul. Christian wasn't sure but he certainly felt frozen inside. 

  The car rumbled to a halt in front of his gate and he sat for a few more minutes, looking over the news site. Stephanie Matt's, she was unmarried according to the news. The press had never been informed of her marriage, she had never officially announced it. Christian clenched his fists and his jaw ticked in contained fury as he got out of the car and opened his front door. 

  Stephanie  was on the couch, a perfect picture of poise, grace and beauty. Her blonde hair was pulled into a perfect ponytail and her velvety red dress complemented her soft blue eyes perfectly. 

  Her face was a cold and nasty mask as she sneered at him, "Where have you been?" 

   Christian strolled closer to her, his face unreadable, serene, too calm and unperturbed as she stared at him, goading him into action. He felt a certain sense of resignation within him, he didn't want to fight her, no, he did not want to indulge in her premeditated arguments, he'd lost the only good thing in his life and he was not ready to go into a word battle with a woman, certainly not Stephanie.

  "I've been busy, Stephanie, but I'm here now, am I not?" He asked and then took his seat just across her, pulling off his cufflinks and unbuttoning his rumpled black shirt. 

  "That's all you have to say to me? You do have some guts, Christian!" She snapped, sprang up from the couch and stood before him, hands akimbo. 

   Christian stared at her, his face holding a frown as he glared at the woman he called his wife, her attitude repulsed him as she stomped and snapped at him. 

  "You haven't called me for three days Christian, I told you we need to see, where were you? What were you doing?" She asked, her voice high and apparently upset. 

  Christian leveled her with an indifferent expression and responded in a calm manner, "I was with grandmother." 

  Almost instantly, the fight seemed to fizzle out of Christian's bones and she questioned slowly, "Is she okay?" She was genuinely concerned, she loved the old woman a lot and it had been a long time since she last met her. 

   "I guess she is now," Christian replied with a cold tone and Stephanie could tell that the old woman was certainly not fine. Christian's cold and hard stare was enough to tell her all she needed to know. 

  "What happened to grandma, Christian?" Stephanie questioned, her voice low and unsteady. "Can I see her? Where is she?" 

  "You can't see her, Stephanie, as a matter of fact, you can never see her again because she is dead." He stated and Stephanie stood, her jaw dropped, her eyes wide, her face a mask of shock. 

   "How could you, Christian?" She asked, her voice deep and breaking, her face sad and her eyes teary. She had known grandma, she was a kind woman and she'd wanted to be with her before she passed. "You never told me she was ill, how could you not tell me that? You know I loved her, you know I wanted to meet her, you know..." She inhaled sharply and then shook her head wildly at him, "You are a cruel man!" She snapped and then pointed at him, her eyes furious. 

   Christian sneered at her with a glare and said, "You seem to have amnesia, Stephanie, look at your phone. Three days ago, I called you a dozen times and you missed all my calls. You were supposed to be in a business meeting, remember? You decided something and someone else was more important than grandma, don't play dumb now, it looks bad on you," 

   Stephanie  stood there and felt her feet freeze, she'd thought Christian was merely trying to get his way that day, she hadn't believed it was true and grandma was honestly in the hospital.   She had misunderstood Christian, she could feel guilt wash over her. 

   "You are playing victim now? That's odd don't you think," Christiana sked, his voice icy, his face unconcerned. He took out his phone and showed it to her, right there was the news on the site about her expensive date, it was the same day grandmother passed. 

   "I guess you can stop pretending now, we both know it was not a business meeting, Stephanie, you were merely busy on a date the day grandma passed, you chose to be with another man over her," he stated and Stephanie was dumbfounded. She stared at him for a few seconds, short of words, her teeth biting down on her lips. 

   "This is just, gossip, Christian, Demon Andrew is a business partner, we are trying to sign off a really good deal and we had to have discussions together, this is mere rumor from a gossip site that wants to destroy my image and reputation," Stephanie argued, trying fruitlessly to lie out of the situation. 

  But Christian was not paying any heed to her, he was distracted, he rose from the armchair he sat and moved to the envelope on the table. There was a sheet of folded paper sticking out and a pen right beside it. It was the heading that caught his attention, typed in bold font, 'DIVORCE AGREEMENT.'

   Stephanie rose from the couch, standing there before him, fidgeting with the hem of her dress as he stared deeply into her eyes. She wanted to divorce him, she'd gone ahead with the plans, but then, after hearing that grandmother had passed and her funeral held without her knowledge, she felt cold inside, she could not begin such a conversation amidst his grief. 

   Christian, I...I...it's not what you think, I swear..." She began but then, Christian had a wry smile on his face as he looked down at the agreement. 

   Calmly, he turned over the paper just once and seeing the bottom line where he was to sign, he simply took the pen and signed, not bothering to read what it said. 

   ", Christian, believe me this is all..." He didn't want anymore of her pretense and drama, he wasn't caught out for it anymore. 

   "I guess this makes you happy, we have nothing to talk about, the marriage is over." He started and threw the paper in her face, turning to leave just when he heard the front door open and the last people he expected to see entered.